21-12-2013, 07:40 AM
I can see a lot of your points in the first part and they're mostly related to the manner in which I approach an actual mix in general. That is I don't go for a super clean sounding mix. I find them boring to create.
Okay, so about the guitars being low during the verses. That was done on purpose actually and this relates directly the levels compared to the verse compared to the chorus. The reason the guitars are so low during the verse is so that when the chorus comes in and the guitars are louder and more prominently. The other thing is that most of the time the chorus is actually 1.5-3dB louder than the verse and this was done intentionally. To give the chorus more power. Create ebb and flow. Create some contrast. I may have overdone it though. Also for the chorus I tried to envision it more as soundscape rather than a typical chorus. Also, I find it funny that you say the solo guitar is big sounding because it is strictly mono and only has a little bit of an exciter on it. What makes that guitar sound "big" IMO is the layering of all the guitars during that part. To me this kind of layering was my entire approach to the track. As for the bass I'll give that to you. I'm a bass head at heart.
I disagree about you with the Mastering bit. If I wanted it mastered I'd go to a Mastering Engineer. All I did was apply a Limiter at the end to protect the master from clipping. In fact the limiter never gets a chance to limit because the actual mix itself peaks around -14dBFS. I just applied some digital gain before the limiter. Mastering is not my thing.
Okay, so about the guitars being low during the verses. That was done on purpose actually and this relates directly the levels compared to the verse compared to the chorus. The reason the guitars are so low during the verse is so that when the chorus comes in and the guitars are louder and more prominently. The other thing is that most of the time the chorus is actually 1.5-3dB louder than the verse and this was done intentionally. To give the chorus more power. Create ebb and flow. Create some contrast. I may have overdone it though. Also for the chorus I tried to envision it more as soundscape rather than a typical chorus. Also, I find it funny that you say the solo guitar is big sounding because it is strictly mono and only has a little bit of an exciter on it. What makes that guitar sound "big" IMO is the layering of all the guitars during that part. To me this kind of layering was my entire approach to the track. As for the bass I'll give that to you. I'm a bass head at heart.
I disagree about you with the Mastering bit. If I wanted it mastered I'd go to a Mastering Engineer. All I did was apply a Limiter at the end to protect the master from clipping. In fact the limiter never gets a chance to limit because the actual mix itself peaks around -14dBFS. I just applied some digital gain before the limiter. Mastering is not my thing.